UK army chief warns of Russian missile threat

Tim Ripley, London - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly

23 January 2018

Russian long-range missiles have narrowed UK and NATO deployment options across eastern Europe, the head of the British Army has said.

General Nicholas Carter told the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank in London on 22 January that in the last five years the number of Russian air, maritime, and land-based platforms for long-range missiles had increased by a factor of 12.

“This gives them the capability to create mobile ‘missile domes’ – shields in which they can assure their freedom to manoeuvre and deny us the ability to act – this is what we call anti-access/area denial. We have seen this in Syria with their capacity to seal airspace over significant distances,” said Gen Carter.

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